Monday, March 18, 2024

THE 26 Megapixel LEICA S1, THE FIRST LEICA DIGITAL CAMERA


By Heinz Richter


Leica has often been criticized for not having paid enough attention to digital photography, that a few years ago they fell hopelessly behind their competition.  Yet in all this criticism one fact is getting lost these days, the fact that already in 1996 Leica introduced a high resolution digital camera, the Leica S1.

We must remember that this was at a time when 2 to 3MP digital cameras that took pictures of questionable quality were the norm, the days when film photography was still way ahead of digital and when the Leica M6 was the best 35mm film camera  money could buy.  In view of this, it is all the more amazing that the Leica S1 offered a resolution of 26 megapixels, something that even by today’s standards is quite high.


How could this be possible?  At that time, resolution levels of this magnitude could only be achieved with so called scanning backs.  Instead of taking the entire image instantly, as is the norm today, the Leica S1 (as well as other, similar digital cameras at the time) scanned the image line by line.  Unfortunately this resulted in exposure times of about 185 seconds.  Subsequently the camera was only useful for stationary objects.

The camera was designed to capture square 36 x 36mm images using 35mm lenses. Though designed for use with Leica R-series lenses, Leica also offered lens mounts for Nikon, Contax, Canon FD, and Minolta lenses as well as for medium-format optics from Hasselblad and the Pentax 6x7. There was also a Novoflex adapter that allowed the use of large-format lenses from Rodenstock & Schneider, and a tilt-shift adapter for use with Hasselblad lenses.

 
Leica S1 with Leica R mount

The S1 could also be coupled to the rear of a view camera to take advantage of tilt, swing, and shift movements which further increased the overall versatility of the camera.

The ISO setting for the S1 was ISO 50, the D-max about 3.3, and the image files contained a dynamic range of 11 stops. At 300 dpi you could produce incredibly sharp 17 x 17" prints without having to interpolate the image, which in 1996 was almost unheard of.

 
Leica S1 Side View

 
Leica S1 Viewfinder

Included with the Leica S1 was a 55mm IRa filter, LaserSoft High Software, a PCI card (PC or Mac), and a 20' cable. As for system requirements, the S1 ran off of PowerMacs (7.55 or higher), or Pentium PCs (Windows 95 or higher) with a minimum of 256MB of RAM, a hard drive of at least 1GB, and Photoshop 3.05 or higher.


All that could be had for the price of $21,500.  Needless to say, the camera did not set any sales records.  It was mostly sold to museums and research institutions.  It is interesting to note that this level of performance was not available again from Leica until the introduction of the Leica S2 in 2008.

Considering the shortcomings in terms of short exposure capabilities, the question is if scanning backs are still a viable choice in these days of digital instant capture systems with up to 150 megapixels.  The answer is ‘yes’.  When it comes to optimum resolution, and when instant capture is not necessary, scanning backs still offer the highest resolution, highest color fidelity and highest color accuracy.

Sinarback eXact black

Here too we can look to Leica or to their latest acquisition, Sinar of Switzerland.  Among the many items offered by them is the Sinarback eXact with a maximum resolution of 192 megapixels. With the eXact back Sinar uses a different approach to common scanning backs.  It can be used as an instant capture back with a resolution of 48 megapixels. But it can also simulate a scanning back by taking 4 separate exposures in RGB and black for an effective total resolution of 192 megapixels and the color accuracy of a scanning back.

Are there any other means to achieve a super high resolution? The answer is yes. The Leica SL 2 camera offers a feature, not unlike a scanning system. With the help of sensor-shift technology, the camera can capture up to eight images in sequence in multishot mode on a tripod, with the sensor shifting in half-pixel increments between each shot. The results provide users with images that are of extremely high resolution, up to 187 MP.


With The Sinar eXact back and the rest of the digital cameras offered by Leica, they have by far the widest palate of digital cameras and digital accessories for the professional photographer.


For other articles on this blog please click on Blog Archive in the column to the right

To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.

All ads present items of interest to Leica owners.

_______________________________________________________________________

EDDYCAM - the first and only ergonomic elk-skin camera strap     
 www.eddycam.com        

      


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Saturday, March 16, 2024

DOUBLE EXPOSURES WITH LEICA SM CAMERAS ON ANY FRAME



By Heinz Richter

The shutter in the Leica SM (screw mount) cameras has a little known feature that most owners are unaware of.  That is its ability to take double exposure with perfect registration, not only on the last exposed frame, but any frame from the first one to the last exposed one.


The procedure is quite simple.  Once the last exposure is made, turn the rewind lever to “R” and rewind the film slowly.   While doing so, watch the rotating shutter release button.  It will make one full revolution for each frame on the film.  Rewind the film a little bit past one full revolution, about ¼ turn, and then set the rewind lever back to “A” and turn the film advance knob until it stops and take the second exposure.  It will have perfect registration.


This procedure will work not just with the last exposed frame, but any frame prior to it.  Use the same procedure, but count the number of revolutions of the shutter release, depending on how many frames you wish to go back.  For instance, if you want to make a double exposure on a frame 12 frames back, rewind the film for 12 revolutions of the shutter release button, go a bit beyond that (1/4 revolution),  set the rewind lever back to “A”, advance the film until it stops and take the exposure.   The registration will be perfect.

It is advisable to practice this with an old piece of unexposed film.  To do so, take off the lens and set the shutter speed to “B”. Then take a number of “exposures” and hold the shutter open to use a pen to mark each frame by outlining it in the open shutter.  It also helps to number the frames consecutively.  This allows you to practice the described double exposure procedure.  Needless to say, repeating this procedure will allow for triple etc. exposures just the same.

To go back to exposing the rest of the film, put a lens cap onto the lens or secure it in some other manner to avoid any light from entering and advance the film for the number of frames you went back and continue shooting.

It is interesting to note that the Nikon rangefinder cameras as well as the first Nikon SLR model, the Nikon F, have the same feature since Nikon copied the Leica shutter for use in those cameras.


For other articles on this blog please click on Blog Archive in the column to the right

To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.

All ads present items of interest to Leica owners.

_______________________________________________________________________

EDDYCAM - the first and only ergonomic elk-skin camera strap     
 www.eddycam.com        

      


Click on image to enlarge
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography

Click on image to enlarge
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography

Click on image to enlarge
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography